The Equestrian Royal Guard

by Elusive Phoenix

Thursday- 5 days until Day: 1

5 Days until Day: 1

“Rainbow, stop nappin’ in mah trees!” Applejack barked at me from down below.

“I do what I want!” I yelled back. I could imagine her reaction. Angry, with forced patience.

“Rainbow, you realize that you’ve slept in the same tree four times already, on the same branch!”

“And?”

“It’s just a bit-” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Either that, or I didn’t hear her over the sound of my ‘Oh Crap!’ The tree branch below me snapped and let me fall to the ground.

I landed with an abnormally loud thud.

“I tried ta warn ya.” Applejack stated.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I knew you’d find eventually, and I have something to tell you.”

“What?” She asked annoyed.

“I’ve joined the Equestrian Royal Guard.”

“Yeah, yeah, nice prank. Now get out of mah-”

“AJ, I’m serious, I’ve joined the guard and training starts in a week.”

“Dash, I’ve stopped listening, I don’t need to be pranked right now, I’ve got enough problems as it is, so if you could just-”

“Applejack, this isn’t a prank! In one week, you won’t see me for another six or seven months, maybe more! I’m here to do stuff with you!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I’m trying to spend time with my friends before I leave!” Applejack stared into my eyes, deciding if I was telling the truth or not.

“Say you were leaving, what would we do?”

“Something relaxing that I’ve never done that you want to do.”

“My way of relaxing is buckin’ trees.”

“Alright.” Applejack recoiled.

“What?”

“We’ll buck apple trees.” She stared at me for a while before saying,

“What have you done with Rainbow Dash?”

“I became myself.”

“What?”

“I’m me.”

“Riiiiiiight... So, uh. Applebucking?” I bucked the nearest tree. One apple fell, and hit me on the head.

Applejack laughed.

“Best I can do.” I stated blankly.

“Here, let me show you how.” She positioned herself under a tree, “Okay, so I’m gonna buck the tree.”

“That’s what I did!”

“You didn’t let me finish! When you buck a tree, you have to position your hooves just right. You’re puttin’ your hooves straight. You need ta turn them away from each other when you buck, so you send the vibrations around the tree, instead of through it, or straight up it like you’re doing.” She proceeded to buck the apple tree, and dropped every apple on it into perfectly placed baskets, “The basket part is pretty complicated, so I’ll do that part-”

“I can do anything you can do!”

“This is one thing that doesn’t come from sport, and you can’t just tell a pony how to do it. It’s something you learn through patience and experience.” She said. I huffed.

“That’s pretty much it. You just have to find the right placement for your hooves by yourself.”

I walked to a random tree.

“Oh, and only do the trees with baskets!” AJ informed me.

“Yeah, yeah.” I bucked the tree as Applejack instructed. Half of the apples fell into the baskets, while the other half remained on the tree. ‘Damn.’

“You did much better than you did before. You’ll have this down in no time!”

Surprisingly, that boosted my morale, instead of angering me like it usually did. I bucked the tree again, only to have one apple drop.

“That’s happened to me plenty of times,” Applejack commented as she bucked a tree successfully, “It’s normal-”

“For a beginner like me?” I stated angrily.

“Well, yeah, but I was gonna say that some trees just don’t cooperate with ya.” She bucked another tree and gathered a few baskets, “I gotta take these apples to the barn. I’ll be back. Keep bucking!” She trotted off to the barn.

I bucked the tree again, dropping the other half. “Ha!” I exclaimed proudly, “Can’t stop me trees!”… ‘I need to stop talking to myself.’

I bucked another tree. Every apple fell perfectly into the baskets. I hoof-pumped. I continued to buck apple trees successfully. ‘This is actually kind of fun.’ And then it hit me. ‘It IS relaxing to just buck some trees! Stretching your muscles and letting the vibrations you sent do the rest!’

After a while of bucking, Applejack returned.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, “You bucked more trees than I thought you could!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I glared.

“I mean you’re better than I thought.”

“Well, duh! I’m Rainbow Dash!”

AJ chuckled, “Just keep buckin’.” So I did.

By sunset, we had bucked at least a fourth of the trees in the orchard.

“Well, Rainbow, I sure do appreciate your help with this. It goes much faster having more than one pony!” Applejack said gratefully.

“No problem AJ! It isn’t as… stressful than I thought.” I said with a smile.

“Well, see you later!” she said and began to trot off.

“AJ, wait!” She turned to look at me, “You know why I did this right?”

“Actually, I don’t rightfully know. Why did ya?”

“Not everything is a prank AJ. I’ve joined the Equestrian Royal Guard, and I’m leaving next Monday.”

Applejack’s mouth hung open. “You’re serious?” I nodded. Her face turned grim, “But won’t that mean you have to leave Ponyville?” I nodded.

“I’ll only be able to see you guys every five or six months, maybe more.” She stared into my eyes.

“Are you sure you should do this?” She asked, her voice grim.

“I’m positive. I’ll write to you guys.” She smiled at that.

*Click*. Picture taken.

“Pinkie will want to throw a party when I tell her, so expect to see me at least one more time.”

“Good to know. I’ll be prepared for a singing telegram for the next few mornin’s.”

“I enjoyed helping you out today Applejack.”

“It’s nice having help when so trouble is goin’ on.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“”Well, somepony’s been stealin’ our buildin’ tools, and I just paid for a new set, only for them to get stolen again!”

“Did you report this to the guard?”

“No! They only ‘guard’, they don’t ‘help’.”

“Applejack, I think you’ve got that wrong. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be joining.”

“Alright,” Applejack replied, “I trust ya. I’ll report it and see if they can help.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon, AJ!” I said, taking off.

“Same! Good luck!” She yelled back as I dashed to my home in the solid orange sky.

Sorry it was so short again.
You know what? Just expect them to be short until training starts.
ADVENTURE AWAITS HER!!!

Yeah. K bye.

Comments

[manuccia]

I like this story, I can't wait for more.

[Literature]

The countdown continues!